Frugal vs. Survival

Here at our house we have went into survival mode, as I am having extreme morning-noon-night sickness. With 2 2-year olds to keep up with, it is all about just getting the necessary things done. I cannot handle the smell of food cooking right now so the budget has really had to be adjusted. Breakfast is cold cereal, lunch is peanut butter and jelly, and dinner is at a restaurant/take out usually. This is a big change for us as I used to meal plan and make dinner each night. Thanks to our usual frugal ways we can afford to do this for awhile as a way of making life easier. And of course, the end result is worth it. As with a lot of things in parenting, it is only a stage. Soon enough we will be back to our frugal meals. There is a season for everything. I am a huge advocate for the frugal life but there are times when it is just about survival. With all that said, I am sad to say I will be saying good-bye to this blog. I will probably come back to it because I am passionate about frugal and debt free living but for now I need to take a break from it to simplify life. I hope you all have been inspired and encouraged.

Life Insurance

If you have minor children then you NEED life insurance. To find the best rate go to Zander Insurance where they will compair rates and find you the best one. We had life insurance through another company but are in the process of switching to the one Zander recommended because it is a substantial savings each month. You take care of your children while you are alive, make sure they are also taken care of if you were to die.

You NEED an Emergency Fund

This post is to show you that you MUST have an emergency fund if you want to get out and stay out of debt. Last night The Man was helping me with all my canning (sshhh...don't tell all his manly friends) and the stove started on fire! Thank God it was a small fire in one of the burners that stopped when we turned it off. After that-nothing-the thing is totally dead. The Man and I were talking about how a few years ago we would have been worried about how to buy a new one. We would have paid with credit and thought "of course we will pay it all off next month". Then the next month would have come around and we probably wouldn't be able to pay it all off. Hence, how we got into debt in the first place. It is so great to have money in the bank for emergencies like this one. If you want to become debt free, start with $1,000 in the bank for emergencies because I can guarantee you they will happen! That way you won't have to ever rely on credit again. After all, isn't it wonderful knowing YOU can take care of yourself?

Mommies Making Money

This week Dave Ramsey had a TV show dedicated to how stay at home moms make money. I am a huge advocate for moms staying at home as much as possible. Raising you children is the most important job you will ever have. I also know, however that a lot of families cannot survive on just one income. I am very blessed to have a job I love that is willing to let me work the days my husband is off. This is great for many different reasons. I can keep up my skills, get out of the house, and the Man gets regular alone time with the kiddos. If working part time around your husbands job is not an option, there are also other things you can do. The women calling in had some great ideas:

1. Cleaning houses

2. Selling home-made soap

3. Decorating cakes

4. Childcare

5. Freelance writing

Some women started up their own businesses from their homes. The main thing to remember when doing this is do something you have a lot of knowledge on and NEVER build a business with debt-pay cash as you go.

I also think of my frugalness and coupon clipping as a part time job. It is very important to handle the finances well and make your money stretch. If you are a stay at home mom, this responsibility will probably fall mostly to you. So get on a budget and stick to it, girl!

A Thought For Married Couples

One huge reason that we have been able to become debt free and do pretty well handling our finances is that The Man and I are on the same page. 4 years ago when I suggested we take the Financial Peace classes, I have to be honest that The Man was less than thrilled about it. However, like a good husband he consented when I told him it was really important to me. There was one stipulation though, he said he would try it for one week and after that if he hated it he didn't have to go. After the first class though he was hooked. We got so excited about paying off debt and learning how to manage our money. I don't think you will win with your money if both partners aren't on the same page. The Man and I never fight about money as both of us agree on where the money will go each month and work as a team to reach our financial goals. Actually, now we love talking about our finances because we are so excited about the progress we are making.
I think it is imperative to have joint accounts if you are married. You need to be working as a team to achieve your financial goals. Both people need to be aware of and accountable for the finances. A great place to start would be to take some financial classes together, of course I recommend Financial Peace University. Also set aside time each month to talk about the budget, how things are going, and places that need to be improved. You will not win with money if both people are not committed to the same financial goals.

Saving For College

This week we opened an Educational Savings Account (ESA) for the kids. Hopefully throughout the years we will be able to continue to add to it. ESA are a great way to save for your kids college, as they grow tax free. However, you shouldn't put saving for your child's education above becoming debt free and saving for retirement. It is very important to work the financial baby steps (see to the right of blog) in order. There are grants and scholarships available for college but not for retirement!

New Cars

When my husband and I were newly married we were somewhat naive about money. Probably like a lot of people. We got into debt but never worried about it because "we could always afford the payments". Making payments was what adults did. Or so we thought. A well intending but seriously mislead family member instructed us that you should always buy a new car. It is the best way to go financially. So, we bought a NEW car. Bad mistake. In fact it was the stupidest financial decision we have made.

Do you know that new cars lose 60-70% of their value in the first 5 years? What a horrible investment. We probably won't buy a brand new car again and we definitely won't buy a car that we don't pay cash for. Car payments are a great way to stay broke. Check out this video on how to drive FREE cars for the rest of your life.

Frugal Fad?

I was reading an article the other day saying how frugality is a popular fad right now, apparently frugal is the new black. The author was saying that as soon as the economy starts looking up people will be back to their old ways.
First I thought, what the heck are they talking about? I don't see people really becoming frugal. The people who were frugal before are still and the people out using credit to buy things they can't afford are still at their old ways (with a few exceptions).
Then I thought about my own life. First off, I have only been an extreme shopper (that is what the media is calling people who shop like I do) for about 6 months. We used to buy things on credit but I thought we were doing fine, after all we could always make the payments. Then we took a Dave Ramsey class and it changed our lives. We got so sick of being in debt and realized how stupid it was. My whole outlook on money has changed. I am frugal so I can save more and give more. It has nothing to do with the economy being down.
I don't think I'll ever go back to my old ways. There may be times when I don't coupon with such intensity or times we spurge on something (always with cash, of course) but on a whole I love our new financial life. We have such freedom. I don't feel deprived, I feel in control of our money. I have peace about or future (since we are saving for it now). I don't worry about how we will pay the mortgage next month. I don't wonder where the money went. We tell our money where to go, based on what we value in life.
So what about you? Do you live frugally? What has caused you to? Do you think you will stick with these habits?

I'm Not Buying It (And Neither Should You!)

We all know there are tons of products that we are tempted to buy every day. Everywhere I turn there is an advertisement telling me why I can't live without what they are selling. Some things I am tempted to waste my money on but these things I am definitely not buying. Some of these things are just plain hilarious!
$5,000 Dog Robot- bought my Micheal Jackson

Kitty Wigs-thanks Kelley!

Weight Loss Pills-Seriously, if these worked wouldn't we all be skinny? I'll just stick to diet and exercise, thank you very much.

Dennis Kozlowski, the CEO of Tyco, bought a statue of David that pissed Vodka.

Build a Catapult in Your Backyard-I can't think of one reason I would ever need this.


$27,000 hand bag



Celebrity Wax Works-John Travolta is hot but I think I'll pass on this.

Cashing Out Your 401K

Don't ever cash out your 401K early. This is one of the top 10 stupidest financial decisions you could make. You will get charged a 10% penalty plus tax so basically you will lose 40%. That is insane! Whereas, if you left it alone with compound interest you will be given tons of money for FREE! Who doesn't love people just giving them money? So invest in your 401K each month and forget about it.

100 Thing Challenge

Does anyone else just feel overwhelmed with clutter? I loath clutter but yet I feel that it is the ever present monster waiting to over take me. Sometimes I will get in this mood where I go through the house and load stuff up in my Goodwill donation bag as fast as I can grab it. I get so focused that I fear if one of my kids inadvertently leaps in front of me, they may get dumped. My husband has nicknamed the bee in my butt Busy. He will warn anyone in my way "watch out for Busy!"
Junk is just wrong on so many levels. First there is the the financial aspect-you spend money on this crap. Not to mention if you can't find what you need you spend MORE money to buy a replacement. There is also the moral delimna. Why do I have so much and waste so much when others have nothing?
Now a lot of times in this blog I tell you how to get things very cheap. That may seem counter intuitive. However, if you notice I talk about food most of the time, something we all NEED. It is sometimes hard to differentiate between a need and a want. Like right now I have been struggling with my NEED for a new pair of Danskos. I have had the same ones for 3 years. I wear them every day to work. They are faded. I NEED a new pair. No, I don't. I WANT a new pair. They are in great condition so I am not getting a new pair right now.
Have you heard of the 100 Things Challenge? Basically this guy lives with only 100 things. Sounds impossible to me. I'm not ready to do that yet but I am taking a real hard look at things before I buy them. Do I really need it? Can I afford it? Am I out of debt and going to pay CASH for it? Most of the time I realize I don't need it. I'm not saying you should never buy anything. I like nice things but I am trying to really think before I buy things now. I realize I don't need much to be happy. In fact not buying some things has made me a lot happier.

Feeling the Love

I decided to write this blog for 2 reasons. First it is a huge accountability encouragement to me. Hard to write about debt free living and then go charge up your credit card, especially when a lot of your readers are also your friends! While I am a pretty frugal person I do have my own financial temptations and this blog has really helped me to be more aware of my spending.
The second reason I write this blog is to encourage and help other people live frugally and be debt free. This week I received some very encouraging comments and emails from some of you sharing how you scored some free stuff with your coupons or just managed your money better. That is so encouraging! Thanks for taking time to let me know how this blog has encouraged you-I love hearing how other people are saving money. I've also learned some great frugal ideas from some of you-so keep them coming.

"Recession"

Today I was watching Dave Ramsey and he brought up a great point I want to share. If you watch the news at all-you probably have some anxiety. I'm always hearing about this "recession" we are in (which we aren't) and how bad things are financially. Yes, the economy has slowed down but seriously let's keep things in perspective.
Things are apparently so bleak but the movie Batman set a record of 155 million sales this weekend! That is the most any movie has made on opening weekend. And, we all know movie tickets cost a small fortune-but a lot of people spent their money on them.
You know who is to blame for your financial situation-YOU. The debt I am trying to get out of is my own stupid fault. Of course, it is easier to blame it on the economy or the president. But really I'm the one in control of my money. Do you need to increase your income? Work more hours, go to college, apply for a different job. Do you need to get control of your spending? Take a financial class, read a book, make a budget. Stop blaming the economy and control the only thing you can-you.
And you know a great thing about this economic slow down? Stock is on SALE! It is a great time to invest.

Freegan

I had a great conversation with a girl at work the other day. I think this girl could be my long lost sister because we had a lot of the same views. She was raised in another country and we were talking about all the waste in America. I have been to Mexico, Philippines, Guatemala, Africa and I have seen horrible poverty. I have seen people dying because of starvation. Let me tell you this forever changes you. It is hard to come back to America and see all the waste.
We were talking about how we would consider the freegan lifestyle except my husband would leave me if I ever did. To his credit, this man has put up with a lot of my against the cultural norm ideas but this is where he is drawing the line. Now men usually die before women so I have thought if this happens to me, I may just do this. (I am saying this with some of my dry humor although I actually have thought about it).
I know many of you are not up to the freegan lifestyle and I myself am not up for losing the love of my life but you can live with this mind set on a smaller scale. Think about things before you buy them. Do you really NEED it? What are you giving up by buying these things because you ARE giving up something. Maybe it is you have to work more and are then giving up time with your family. Maybe you are giving up saving for your child's education. Maybe you are giving up the joy of donating to someone who is trully in need. Don't just spend your money-tell it where to go based on what you hold in high regard.

Unfrugal

Inspired by Northern Cheapskates post, I have decide to do my own post about unfrugal things I do. Life is all about choices. While I usually am pretty frugal, there are some things I splurge on.
Scrapbooking- I love scrapbooking. I think it will be great for my kids to be able to look back some day and have all our memories preserved. Anyone who is a scrapbooker knowns it can be expensive but I think it is really worth it.
Shoes While I don't spend much money on clothes I think good shoes are a must. When I find shoes that fit good, I am a very loyal customer. Danskos are the only shoes I buy for work. Since I am on my feet a lot at work I am willing to pay the extra money for good shoes. I also love Crocs for my kids, although thankfully they have recently come out with some knock-off Crocs that fit just as good.
Buying Organic Meat Being healthy is more important to me than saving money so I am willing to pay more for Organic meat. A good way to save though is buy a part of a cow from a local farmer. We buy 1/4 of a cow about every six months. While it is more expensive than buying cheap meat at the store, I feel it is worth it to know that the meat I am feeding my families is not pumped full of antibiotics or fed blood meal (which causes mad cow disease).
Buying Organic Produce Along the same lines, I try to buy a large majority of our fruits and veggies organic because again, healthy food is a priority for me.
Eating Out This is our biggest budget-blower temptation. The Man and I love to eat out and if we aren't careful we can completely blow our budget. We have recently committed to only eating out one meal a week.
It is okay to do some unfrugal things as long as you are still spending less than you are making and you adjust your budget and spend less on something else.
What are the unfrugal things you do? Are they worth it to you? How do you adjust your budget to make it all balance?

Lotto Anyone?

I'm sure all my readers are much too smart to be wasting their money playing the lottery but just in case, I ran into some very interesting statistics. Do you know that if you drive a mile from your house to buy a lotto ticket you are 12 times more likely to die in an auto accident than win with the lotto ticket? Don't waste your money on the lotto. Put it into a good growth stock mutual fund and you'll do much better.

Advent Bottles Update

Apparently everyone has questions about this. Sorry I don't all the answers as it seems to vary from store to store. BPA is a chemical found in some bottles that leeches into the formula and can be harmful. If you want more info on this you can google it. I don't know which bottles they are returning as each store seems to be making their own rules. My best advice is call ahead of time and ask. We were able to get in store credit for all our Advent bottles that we used even though I didn't have any receipts. Hope that answers everyones questions.

Avent Bottles

Today we went and exchanged all of our Avent bottles (due to the BPA in them) at Babies R Us. We spent a lot of money on those bottles so it was nice to get the money back, though you get it in the form of in-store credit. The kids were excited they got a sprinkler! I don't know how long Babies R Us will be doing this so if you have some you want to exchange you should do it soon.

Enough Already

I am so sick of hearing about how gas prices have increased. Yes, I know already! Let me clarify, we have felt the pinch. My husband commutes 48 miles to work every day. I'm not liking the price increase either. But chances are the increase in gas prices is not what is killing you. Not living within your means and paying interest is a whole lot worse than the gas price. People are paying interest on credit cards, cars and everything in between-you are just throwing that money away every month. My husband works with a guy who, in response to the increasing gas price, traded his PAID FOR car in for a smaller car with a 7% intrest rate. Does this make sense on any level?
While we have limited driving, there is not a whole lot we can do about the increase in gas prices. However, most other things in your budget you can control. Would you pay $1 for bottled water (which you can get water for FREE)? That is $10 a gallon. Go to Starbucks and pay $4 for a coffee? That is $32 a gallon! I don't hear people up in arms about that. In fact Starbucks stock is up this week. Someone is buying it. Now I am not against Starbucks. In fact I love it. I used to work there in college and let me tell you the amount of money people spend there is rediculous. People would come in every day and spend about $5. That is $1,800 a year! I do love Starbucks coffee but I don't get it much because of the cost so I am pretty excited to try this recipe for iced coffee-just in time for summer.
Even though gas prices are out of our control-most of your budget is within your control. Little things add up to big costs. Stop blaming the economy and start taking control of your own financial situation. You need to know where your money is going and have control over your spending.

Don't Buy Things You Can't Afford

Seriously....What is the best way to get out of debt and save? Stop buying things, especially if you can't pay cash for it. Check out this SNL skit-Don't Buy Things You Can't Afford. Funny, yet sadly many Americans haven't grasped this concept.